Page 36 of Grave Situation

If only I could say the same.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

A sharp shakejerks me to wakefulness. Tia’s standing over me with a candle, fully dressed in her flight leathers and armed to the teeth. For a split second, I wonder if she’s finally come to kill me like she threatened to do when we were six and I dropped her doll in the well to see how far down the water was. Nearly twenty feet, which I thought was impressive. She did not.

“Wake up, Talon,” she demands impatiently. “We don’t have all day.”

I blink at her, then cast a glance toward the window. It’s still dark outside. “It’s not day at all. What the fuck, Tia? I’m sleeping.”

“We need to leave. Important mission, remember? Vital to the survival of humanity?”

Ugh. I try to roll over, but she’s got a firm grip on my shoulder.

“Tia,” I whine. “Why do you hate me?”

“You don’t want to ask that question. One day, someone’s going to answer it, and you won’t like how long the answer is. Get. Up. We need to leave.”

“We’re not leaving until nine,” I inform her, trying not to take pride in the fact that there are many reasons for people to hateme. I don’t think that was her intention. “Dark means it’s not close enough to nine for me to get up.”

She rips back my blankets.

“Tia! What if I was naked?” I half sit up, reaching for the covers before all the warmth can disappear.

“Please. Like you have anything I haven’t seen before. Or even want to see. Now get up.”

Since it seems like she’s not going to let this go, I muster all my patience and ask, “Why? We’re not leaving until nine.”

“No, we’re leaving at six. In half an hour. Because every master in the city knows we’re supposed to leave at nine, and I can guarantee most of them will be there. And when everyone else sees them, they’ll want to know what’s happening and join the crowd. Do you really want to ride out with an audience that big?”

Fuck me dead.

I scramble out of bed. “On second thought, an early start is just what we need. Could you send someone to let J—Master Kahwyn know?”

“Jaiminis already in the stable, saddling the horses. Which, by the way, you’ll need to do for yourself in future.” She stands with her hands on her hips, watching as I splash water on my face and then look around blankly.

“Gods’ turds, what am I supposed to wear to ride a horse?”

Tia points to my desk chair, where she’s apparently laid out clothes for me as though I’m a child. To distract from that, I accuse, “You woke Jaimin before me?”

“No. Because he and I discussed it last night and decided this was the most sensible course of action. It was his idea—he’d heard the talk from the other masters.”

Where exactly was I during this secret meeting they had? “I think you’ve both forgotten who the expedition leader is,” I complain.

“He did suggest we talk to you,” she concedes. “But I know exactly how much you hate mornings, so I figured this way was better.”

She’s not wrong, but there’s no way I’m admitting that. “I need to tell my master and get the stone. Or have you already done that too?”

The annoying little smirk on her face is the only warning I have before my door opens. Choking down a shriek—and very glad I’m not still in only my underclothes—I spin to face it.

“Ah, Talon. I can see you’re your usual cheerful morning self,” Master says, grinning. Of course he and Tia are enjoying the fact that they’ve dragged me out of bed in the middle of the night to ride a horse in the fucking cold. “I won’t come down to see you on your way—it’s a little nippy out there in this time before dawn. But I’ve brought you this.” He holds out the box, and I move forward to snatch it from him.

“You’re an evil man.”

“Isn’t it delightful?” he agrees. “Take this as well.”

It’s a leather pouch on a long thong, the kind of thing people use to carry valuables around their necks to deter pickpockets. A shirt and coat usually do the trick to hide the bulge and make it difficult to access.

“I had it made especially,” Master says. “It should make carrying the stone easier when you don’t want to cart a box around.”

---